PILLOW TALK

Why, oh why do bedtimes have to be BIG QUESTION  times? One such recent conversation went something like this:

‘You know the Bible?..'

‘Yes..’(waiting with baited breath to hear what is going to come next..)

‘Is it true?’

Now that is a BIG question and one I don’t think I really got to grips with until my ‘A’ levels! What to say and where to start-and how to answer in language which will be grasped by a young mind? No, I don’t believe the Bible is true in a completely factual, inerrant sense. Yes, I believe the Bible is an attempt- through historical narrative, great and exciting ‘stories’, (boring!) genealogies, allegories, beautiful poetry, parable and letters, using  language and ideas limited and confined by the social/political/scientific understanding of the time –to express as best those people were able the Truth of their experience of God. And that truth of experience was ever evolving as the world and their understanding of it grew and altered. At the heart of the biblical tradition is the notion that truth is not primarily fact or creed but is best conveyed through story. So in answer: Yes, I believe the Bible is true and in this way-to borrow the words of a Native American story teller-‘I don’t know if it happened in this way or not, but I know this story is true.’

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